What is anonymous calling?
Do you want to remain under the radar with your phone number when you call someone? This is possible with anonymous calling. Your phone number will not appear on the screen of the person you are calling.
He or she will only see 'Anonymous' on the screen. So unknown calling is actually the same as turning off your caller ID or hiding your Caller ID.
Situations for unknown calling
It can be useful to make an anonymous call if you prefer not to have someone see your number to keep it private. For example, in the following situations:
- When you conduct a business conversation with customers or clients using your personal phone.
- When you want to call someone once without them knowing your phone number.
- When you want to prevent annoying phone calls or spam in general.
Unknown calling: how to call private?
If you want to remain unidentifiable while calling, there are several ways to call private. We have listed four options for you, each of which we explain in detail.
- Making a one-time anonymous call
- Always making private calls
- Calling a specific number with your number hidden
- Making anonymous calls via landline
We also explain the steps for setting up anonymous calling on your iPhone and Android phone.
1. Making a one-time anonymous call
Do you want to make a secret call without having to adjust your settings? That's easy! Simply add something to the phone number you want to call, and your number will not be recognized.
Here's how to do it:
- Open the phone app on your device.
- Go to the screen where you enter the phone number.
- Type '#31#' before the phone number you want to call anonymously.
- Press the 'Call' button.
Your number will not be recognized, and you can make an anonymous call with just a small action! Check here for all country codes to hide your caller ID.
2. Always making private calls
Do you always want to make private or anonymous calls, so that people don't see your number? Setting up unknown calling is easy and quick on both iPhone and Android smartphones.
How do you always make anonymous calls with your iPhone?
Unknown calling with your iPhone, how it’s done. Follow these steps:
- Open the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone.
- Go to ‘Phone’.
- Tap on ‘Show My Caller ID’.
- Toggle the switch to the left, so that it is no longer green, and you deactivate the caller ID setting.
From now on, you can always call private with your iPhone until you change this setting again.
How to call private on an Android phone?
You can activate anonymous calling on Android with a few simple steps:
- Open the 'Phone' app on your Android smartphone.
- Tap the three dots.
- Tap 'Settings'.
- Go to 'Additional Services'.
- Tap 'Caller ID display'.
- Now choose the option 'Hide number'.
Since there are so many different versions of Android, it may work slightly differently on your phone. So, look up the steps to make a secret call for your specific smartphone.
And if you don't necessarily want to make an anonymous call, but want to contact someone anonymously, you can also always send an anonymous text message. Completely safe and 100% anonymous.
3. Always call a specific number through private calling
Do you always want to call a specific person privately without having to manually set it for every call? This can be arranged. Do this by adding the country code to the number of that person in your contact list. In the US, this code is *67, for example.
This can be useful, if you make a lot of work calls with your personal phone or if you have a new phone number and don't want your ex to have it, but you still occasionally speak to them on the phone.
Anonymous calling with the country code or prefix
Add the country code or prefix (like *67 for US, as mentioned), to the phone number of that one person in your contact list today, and always call safely and anonymously from now on.
Adding these characters works slightly differently for an iPhone than an Android device, so we'll give you the instructions per phone type below.
How to call private with a specific number on an iPhone?
You can make a specific number unknown on your iPhone by following these steps:
- Open the 'Contacts' app.
- Find the contact that you want to call anonymously.
- Tap on the contact and then tap on 'Edit' in the top right corner.
- Select the phone number you want to call.
- Enter *67 followed by the actual phone number you want to call.
- Press 'Done', and there you go, you'll always call this number anonymously from now on.
Call a specific number anonymously with Android
- You can make anonymous calls to a specific number with Samsung or another Android phone by following these steps:
- Open the 'Contacts' app.
- Find the contact you want to call anonymously.
- Tap the pencil icon to edit the contact.
- Select the phone number.
- First enter *67 and then the actual phone number you want to call.
- Tap 'Save', and you will now always call this number without caller ID.
4. Anonymous calling via a landline phone
Are you more old-fashioned and want to make anonymous calls with a landline phone? That's possible too!
Most landline providers offer the option to activate number display suppression. This way, your phone number won't appear on the screen of the person you're calling.
Activating number display suppression varies per provider. Keep in mind: not all landline providers offer number display suppression, and some providers even charge extra fees for this. So, contact your provider to check what the options are.
Keep this in mind if you want to make an unknown call
We understand that you don't always want someone to see your number when you call. Fortunately, you now know how to easily make anonymous calls. It's super convenient to protect your phone number and call private.
But be aware, providers keep an eye out for abuse prevention. They can see who is calling without number identification. So, if you experience any nuisance, a provider can take action for you. However, the person you are calling anonymously can also report this if you call anonymously too often.
If you notice that someone is no longer picking up, it may be that your number has been blocked. Find out here how you can know if someone has blocked you.